They cough and cough and it's all water and bile, nothing else left in them -- it's a good sort of burn, almost -- but they're not thinking quite yet, not really, and their hands snap to the sides of their neck because who said anyone could touch them (not touching their own skin - they never do) -
"Why," they rasp out, and their throat burns, their shoulders heave. "Why-"
Ashdown Whaler